DECEMBER 27, 1918] 
tured mind could have conceived and carried on as 
you have done the symmetrical and rapid progress 
which has characterized the institution. That in 
addition to this great work you have been able also 
to render highly distinguished services to various 
international enterprises in the form of world ex- 
positions, is another indication of the wide range 
of your powers. 
Your broad qualities of mind have been accom- 
panied by a warmth of heart which has bound us 
to you in especial affection. Our felicitations on 
this occasion spring therefore from sentiments of 
deep personal regard. You have been to each of us 
a wise counselor and faithful friend, no less than 
trusted leader and able administrator. 
It is our hope that you may be spared to direct 
the activities of this institution for many years and 
to enrich with your friendship and counsel the lives 
of each of us and of all others who shall be privil- 
eged to come within the circle of your compan- 
ionship. 
THE WORK OF DR. C. G. ABBOT 
Dr. CHarLes GREELEY ABBOT has been ap- 
pointed assistant secretary of the Smithsonian 
Institution. Dr. Abbot was born in Wilton, 
New Hampshire, May 31, 1872. He was grad- 
uated from the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology, class of 1895, with the degree of 
Master of Science, and in 1914 he was awarded 
the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science by 
the University of Melbourne. 
Dr. Abbot was appointed assistant to Sec- 
retary Langley in the Smithsonian Astro- 
physical Observatory in 1895, and has been 
engaged continuously in original researches 
on solar radiation in cooperation with Dr. 
Langley up to 1906, when he assumed entire 
charge of that work as director. His studies 
eovered the fundamental problems in con- 
nection with the amount and variability of 
solar radiation, its absorption in the solar 
and terrestrial gaseous envelopes, and the 
effects of its variability on climate. 
In recognition of the character of his work, 
Dr. Abbot has received the Draper gold medal 
from the National Academy of Sciences, the 
Rumford gold medal from the American 
Academy of Arts and Sciences, and member- 
ship in the National Academy of Sciences, the 
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the 
SCIENCE 
641 
Astronomical and Astrophysical Society of 
America, the Royal Astronomical Society of 
Great Britain, the Société Astronomique de 
France, the Society of Astronomy in Mexico, 
the Academy of Modena in Italy, the Deutsche 
Meteorologische Gesellschaft in Germany, and 
other organizations. The results of his work 
have been published largely in the Annals of 
the Astrophysical Observatory. He is also the 
author of a work entitled “The Sun,” pub- 
lished in 1911, and has contributed many sci- 
entific papers to special astronomical and 
astrophysical journals. 
THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN 
ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION 
Tue thirty-sixth annual meeting of the 
American Ornithologists’ Union was held in 
New York City, November 11, 1918. Owing 
to the epidemic of influenza the public meet- 
ings for the presentation of papers were 
omitted and the sessions were limited to busi- 
ness meetings of the council and fellows and 
members. The election of officers resulted in 
the choice of the following officers for the 
ensuing year: President, John H. Sage, Pozt- 
land, Conn.; Vice-presidents, Dr. Witmer Stone, 
Philadelphia, and Dr. George Bird Grinnell, 
New York; Secretary, Dr. T. S. Palmer, 1939 
Biltmore St., Washington, D. C.; and Treas- 
urer, Dr. Jonathan Dwight, New York. Five 
additions were made to the list of honorary 
fellows and 14 foreign ornithologists were en- 
rolled as corresponding fellows. The honorary 
fellows elected were: Dr. Roberto Dabbene, 
of Buenos Aires; Dr. Alwyn K. Haagner, of 
Pretoria, Transvaal; Dr. Einar Lénnberg, of 
Stockholm, Sweeden; Dr. Auguste Ménégaux, 
of Paris, and Dr. Peter Suschkin, of Kharkov, 
Russia. Five new members, Dr. Harold C. 
Bryant, George K. Cherrie, Lieutenant Ludlow 
Griscom, Lieutenant J. L. Peters and R. W. 
Williams, and 147 associates were added to 
the rolls. 
Although the union has had seventy-five of 
its younger and more active members in mili- 
tary and naval service, it has survived the war 
without suffering any decrease in its member- 
ship, its income, or in the size of its journal. 
